SCC 24 10 16 Agenda and Minutes

October 16, 2024

Call to order – Al – 8:03 PM CST

Roll Call – Michael

• Meeting Attendance.pdf and Conflict of Interest statements 

Approval of past SCC minutes – Michael

• Last Meeting Minutes SCC 24 09 18 Agenda and Minutes – USA Club Rugby 
  • Motion: Midwest. Second: True South. Approved

Chairs’/Officers’ Reports

Secretary – Michael

• Nick had surgery this afternoon to address a rugby injury. We wish him well. 
• Note from Jeremy (Marketing/Social Media): We have gotten good reviews about us posting our minutes for those interested. Both Instagram and facebook. About 1,000 impressions on Facebook with 93 link clicks. Which would be the main source of interaction. Some may go check instagram but it’s not a direct link click like Facebook
• Jeremy loaded the union administrator guidelines approved at SCC to the website at Union Admin – USA Club Rugby. 
  • Scott is reviewing with Jaime the club name standards 
• Reminder: Send Website issues to Nick (Admin) and he’ll add to the Tracker
• Referee and Laws committee nominations
  • Only one. David Chapman. Call invite sent to David Chapman. David in attendance
• Integrated transfer data into weighted voting
  • See “Membership Stats as of 10.08.24” tab in SCC Membership Data.pdf
  • What date should we pull it in the future? 
  • Does the data swing justify pulling the data multiple times? No
  • Amended to pull August 1 annually.
  • Motion: RMR. Second: NorCal. Approved

15’s Comp – Andrew

• Sending an email Friday to GUs for Super Regional tournaments and seeding
• Looking at 25/26 Competitions. 
  • Keeping D2/D3 as is. 
  • May change D1 to make it better
  • Will have a proposal in December meeting

7’s Comp – David F

• Working on building committee. Still have a few outstanding interviews
• Draft of 7s National Championship RFP

Treasurer – David D

• Proposed 2024-25 Budget:  
• Form for Questions about Proposed Budget:
• 2023/24 v. 2024/25 YOY Paid Registrations:  
• September 2024 Monthly Financials:  
• September 2024 YTD Statement of Financial Position:  
• Swick Media Contract being renewed.
• Weekly & At-Large Memberships
• New NDA Execution Process
  • Nick processing

Discipline – Megan

• No report

Governance – KJ

• Working on committee nominations 
• GU application from Utah coming

Eligibility – Tam

• • Reviewing waiver requests, assisting members with eligibility questions or concerns including domestic and international clearance requests, U18 waivers/Safe Sport compliance.
  • UPDATE: Regulations will be amended so that the criteria for the 60-month Residency status mirrors the new World Rugby Regulation 8 guidelines (vs confirming 10 months “in the USA” for each 12-month period for the most recent 60-months):

• Reg 3.4-(i): Player Eligibility: USA Club Rugby 60-Month Non-Resident Player Exemption.

• • • A Non-Resident (NR) player may apply to USA Rugby for a waiver of their Non-Resident status based on their being registered with USA Rugby for the most previous 60-month period. (See Section 7.5.2.G. 60-Month Residency Exemption (Fifteens Only)).

• Reg 7.5.2.G. 60-Month Residency Exemption (Fifteens Only).

• • A request to waive a player’s Non-Resident status must include verification that the player has been registered exclusively with USA Rugby for the most previous 60-month period.
• Sevens guidelines will be revised and updated once the sevens committee members are seated.

DEI – Holly

• No report

Vice Chair – Wes

• No report

Board Report – Rick

• Board Meetings/Activities – Board Meeting September 26.

• • • Reviewed and approved hire of Simon Amor as Men’s Sevens Head Coach. Will be USA based.
    • Budget report – August YTD continues to show performance ahead of budget with revenues at $8.6m and expenses at $7.8m. Projecting shortfall for next fiscal year.
    • Discussion about disparate philanthropy efforts and need to better coordinate. Engaged contractor to pursue coordination.
    • Substantial closed session discussions on a variety of issues.
    • High Performance
      • HP Manager reported on post Olympics program assessment and “Coach Leadership” initiative defining roles and expectations.
      • Reviewed Anthem staffing and USAR employee involvement.
      • Men’s 7s Interview panel included Tom Cusack and Denis Shanagher.
      • Joint management committee to be discussed at the next meeting.

• Committee Activities

• Governance working group.

• • • • Meeting weekly to expedite review of bylaws to meet USOPC compliance issues by mid- November. 
      • Insisting on retention of supermajority requirements for bylaw amendments and any dues changes. 
      • Considering separating member insurance coverage from member registration fees (dues). 
        • For example, if club member registration fees of $45 include $18 to cover insurance premiums, set dues at $27 and separate out insurance premiums to float as rates change.
      • Continue to pursue definition of policy making authority levels: Board, CEO, staff, etc.
    • Nominating committee – no new activity. 

• Other

• • Operations Manager Search renewed.
  • WR Chair election upcoming.

USAR Liaison – Elaine

• Mid month each month will be emailing a club compliance status and refund status

Chair report – Al

• There have been issues with teams traveling to the US without international clearances. 
  • This is a problem as no-one would be insured 
  • Jamie working on international GUs
  • GU Presidents can help by sanctioning tournaments or not
  • Be aware, there are some tournaments that aren’t sanctioned
  • We need a Club Rugby policy on handling this. Will be working on it
  • Action Item: Michael to create Google Doc or other instrument to collect ideas
• RRIPG 
  • Collecting data on Club Rugby. Nutrition, Player welfare, etc. Looking for a letter of recommendation for a grant request.
  • They will be producing back to us user friendly reports and documents
  • They will continue to attend events for data collection

New Business

• Adding David Chapman to Referee and Laws Committee
  • Questions
    • What is your take on referee assignments with Super Regionals in particular?
    • What is your view of the difference between representing SCC vs Referees?
    • What do you think the SCC fits into the development of referees?
  • Motion: NorCal. Second: Capital. Approved
• Adding Rob Walker of Texas to Governance Committee
  • Motion: NorCal. Second: MidWest. Approved

Adjourned

• Motion: NorCal. Second: Texas
  • Meeting adjourned at 9:55 PM CST